Abstract:

Background and aims:
The risk of stroke in adults below the age of 65 years has doubled globally in the last two decades. Younger adults with stroke often prioritize returning to work during their process of rehabilitation. Literature shows evidence that enhancing self-efficacy, motivation and social skills, and doing volunteering is associated with regaining work ability of younger adults with stroke. However, the regiment of an intervention incorporating these is inconclusive. This paper aims to report on the development of an inclusive volunteering programme for improving work ability of younger adults with stroke.

Methods:
A three-step approach based on the Medical Research Council guidance was adopted to develop the programme. We conducted a comprehensive literature review of interventions aiming to improve work ability of young stroke survivors, and examined the theoretical frameworks suited to understand the mechanisms of changes in stroke survivors’ work ability. Three young stroke survivors (45-58 years old) who resumed paid employment after stroke were interviewed for feedback on helpful strategies to securing jobs.

Results:
We developed a novel 6-week virtual inclusive volunteering programme to build work ability of young stroke survivors. Grounded in Bandura’s principles of self-efficacy, it aims to promote stroke survivors’ psychological well-being by having young survivors and lay volunteers, consisting of undergraduate students, trained to volunteer in partnership. The volunteering activities include designing volunteering sessions, sharing responsibilities, and conducting virtual volunteering sessions. They are expected to work as a team and problem-solve collaboratively. A registered nurse, working as the facilitator, will help the stroke survivors by guiding their development of work-skills such as self-management as well as self-efficacy.

Conclusions:
A large-scale randomised controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the effects of the intervention on young survivors’ work ability. The programme is expected to facilitate stroke survivors in resuming work and foster social inclusion. We expect that the intervention should establish a new virtual vocational rehabilitation model for young stroke survivors through inclusive volunteering and be integrated into existing rehabilitation policies and services. The intervention is expected to provide mutual health and social benefits to the stroke survivors as well as the lay volunteers.

Keywords:

Stroke, work ability, volunteering, rehabilitation.